University Welcomes ‘This American Life’s’ Robyn Semien

MELBOURNE,
FLA. — Peabody Award winner and This
American Life producer Robyn Semien will offer the keynote address Wednesday,
Feb. 20, during Free Speech Week convened by Florida Tech and its student-run
newspaper, The Crimson.

Held Feb.
18-22 on the Florida Tech campus, Free Speech Week features lectures, events
and activities designed to help foster a better understanding of the First
Amendment.

Semien
will speak at 5:30 p.m. in the Hartley Room on the second floor of the Denius
Student Center. The event, like all Free Speech Week activities, is free and
open to the public.

She is a
two-time winner of the Peabody Award, among the most prestigious recognitions
of excellence in radio, TV and digital media. She won most recently for
producing the This American Life
episode “Anatomy of Doubt” in 2016, which was co-reported with The Marshall
Project and ProPublica and centered on a rape survivor whose story was doubted
by almost everyone she told.

“Robyn
Semien’s moving and important storytelling is audio journalism at its finest,”
said Ted Petersen, associate professor of journalism at Florida Tech and
adviser to The Crimson.

Here’s a
look at other Free Speech Week events:

Monday, Feb. 18:

12:30
to 3 p.m., Panther Plaza: The Crimson
staff will host “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Cookies,” featuring a
free-speech wall where students, faculty, staff and visitors may freely express
themselves by writing whatever they want on the wall. In return, writers will
receive a cookie.

Tuesday, Feb. 19:

5:30
p.m., Link Room, Evans Library: Reel Reads: School of Arts and Communication
professor Heidi Hatfield Edwards discusses the 1974 book and 1976 film All the President’s Men.

Wednesday, Feb. 20:

11:30
a.m. to 1 p.m., Crawford Building lawn: Students will get to experience life
without the First Amendment. They will receive a free meal – a slice of pizza from
Old School Pizza or a sub sandwich – in exchange for their First Amendment
rights.